Berlin 2016 - Epilog

There was a lovely sunrise over the Munich airport this morning.

The flight home was a bit long for my taste, but uneventful. Jeff snapped this nice photo with the Alps in the distance, as we were departing.

I enjoyed my week in Berlin, but I don't think I would go back again. I imagine it would be much more attractive as a tourist destination in the summer or fall, with its grand, tree-lined boulevards, but I suspect it's not a popular tourist destination, unless you are a history enthusiast. (But if you are, there are more than enough museums, and additional WWII-specific attractions, to fill an entire history class.)

Berlin was a sprawling mix of old and new, with very little of the medieval feel that makes other European cities awe-inspiring. Much of its scattered nature, with no real "center", is probably due to literally being divided in half for the duration of the Cold War; the guidebook made reference to some areas formerly being thriving centers for culture and commerce, before the wall rearranged neighborhoods. To me, it seemed like a haphazard assembly of distinct districts and town squares, connected only by public transit. Part of that might be the aimless order in which I toured the sights, however.

The low temperature, coupled with losing daylight just after 5, also really changes the experience. Given that I am never going to be out of the hotel at 7:30 AM, it drastically reduces the amount that can be seen in a single day. Thankfully, I had several extra days during which to roam the city, but Jeff didn't see much outside of the convention center after Monday.

The public transit system, by the way, is excellent. Between the subway, light rail, trams, and buses, you can get anywhere and everywhere easily and quickly. This map of the U- and S-bahn should give some indication of the coverage. The trams aren't on this map, but they're mostly in former-East Berlin; apparently they ripped up the tram tracks in the west side when the car was declared the victor.

I just spent some time reading about which cities were severely bombed during WWII on Wikipedia and Metapedia, as I think I saw that cited as a reason why there isn't much of "old" Berlin remaining. Indeed, a search for "Berlin" on the latter page yields 62 results.

(Perhaps some day, we can go to one of the mostly unscathed cities.)

The little bit of Munich that I saw reminded me quite a bit of Prague, and Jeff, who had spent time there previously, posited that Munich (and Bavaria, in general) is what people think of when they imagine Germany.

Completely unrelated, but there are a few random things I wanted to remember:

• It seemed like we were the only people in the entire city wearing sunglasses. *shrug*
• There are Buddy Bears all over Berlin. You can see them in a few pictures, and I think Jeff has a photo of me next to one of them.
• I forgot about the down-feather duvets, which are too warm for my taste. (Jeff was not thrilled that I insisted on keeping the window open.)
• One of these trips, I'm going to remember to bring back the random pile of Euros I've collected at home.
• Giving the slightest hint that you speak or understand any German just makes them ask you more questions in German. This didn't stop me from using all four German phrases I learned.
• Responding to a waiter or waitress' greeting with "hallo" or "guten tag" will result in you receiving a German-language menu.
• Having mobile internet access is incredibly helpful, even if it's just for "where is the nearest train station, Google?"

Berlin 2016 - Day 6

Friday morning, Jeff went and put in his last few hours at the conference. I got up at the usual time and packed.

We hopped on the bus to the airport just after 12, and arrived with plenty of time to make our 2 PM flight to Munich. (Day 6 of "Berlin 2016" is mostly in Munich, technically. Oops.)

It was roughly 3:45 by the time we made it to the airport hotel. Jeff had suggested earlier that we might rent some overpowered BMW for a few hours and go racing on the autobahn, but the timing was tight (would have had to be back by 6), and also it was raining lightly, with a weak threat of snow.

We dumped our luggage, and instead of driving a BMW, we settled for the next best thing; Jeff took me to BMW World so we could relive his European Delivery.

We walked around briefly and looked at the pretty cars. Jeff talked about how amazing some of them are. I told him which colors I liked, and which were ugly.

We headed up to the top level, and Jeff waxed nostalgic about watching his car being "born" as it came up the car-elevator to the "victory lap" area.

We watched with envy and amusement (respectively) as a new member of the BMW ED family did his victory laps around the short track in his new, red convertible.

I was getting hungry, so we bid our fond farewells to BMW World and boarded the train towards Marienplatz.

Jeff led the way down a few side streets, and we emerged in front of Hofbräuhaus.

This location was much livelier than the one in Berlin, what with it being the true Hofbräuhaus. Also probably related to it being Friday night, instead of a Tuesday afternoon.

We settled in for a light dinner and a wee pint or two.

A scant two and a half hours later, we returned to Marienplatz and found the train back to the airport/hotel.

Tomorrow morning, we fly back to Newark. I'll have about 10 hours to kill on the plane, so I'll probably write an epilogue. Tune in later for the final entry.

Berlin 2016 - Day 5

Thursday morning felt a lot like Wednesday morning; woke up, Jeff long gone, went out to get food.

Today, though, I opted for a full-blown brunch situation instead of the usual coffee-and-a-pastry. I was going to settle for the restaurant next to the hotel, but I missed the 11 AM cutoff for breakfast. While at the Gasthaus Krombach last night, I noticed they had breakfast until noon, though, so I headed back there for a "ham breakfast".

After my lavish breakfast, I went back to the hotel to get the wifi hotspot (oops), and then started walking towards the Charlottenburg Palace, just over 2 miles away.

Along the way, I passed Technische Universität, the local branch of the Church of Scientology, some purple sky pipes, and a bunch of other random stuff.

Eventually, I could see the palace in the distance.

Once I got there, I did a lap around the outside of the building and checked out the grounds/gardens behind it a little bit. One could easily spend an entire day wandering around the gardens, I suspect.

When I got bored of the palace grounds, I headed south down Schloßstraße, away from the palace.

... and continued wandering in the general direction of the hotel.

I eventually stumbled upon the Berlin-Charlottenburg S-Bahn station, so I decided to take the train a few stops east towards Tiergarten, at which point I got off and headed through the park towards the Victory Column. Along the way, I found the Teehaus in the English Garden, I think.

Upon arriving at the Victory Column, I walked around the perimeter of the traffic circle, but didn't bother spelunking out to the middle (there are a pair of pedestrian tunnels).

 Along one side of the circle, there are a few statues of the victors themselves, I presume?

By then, it was after 4:30, so I continued south, vaguely towards Kurfürstendamm, across the canal, and then took a shortcut past the aquarium.

Along the way, I saw a guy juggling in the crosswalk during red lights, presumably trying to earn some money.

By the time I made it back to the hotel, the health app on my iPhone reported just over 9 miles walked for the day.

We headed to Savignyplatz for dinner, and ended up at an Italian restaurant.

When we got back from dinner, it was just over 10.5 miles.

Tomorrow, Jeff finishes up his conference, and then we fly to Munich for the night.

Berlin 2016 - Day 4

Today began in the same was as the previous one had: Jeff got up and went to the conference, and I slept in.

Jeff gave me a heads up that the sun was out for the first time since we've been here, so I set forth to find my shadow, and also a cappuccino.

I didn't have a solid plan, but I thought I might like to see the Victory Column in the middle of Tiergarten, until I got off the train at a nearby stop and realized it was over half a mile away still.

That idea got tabled (maybe tomorrow), and I hopped back on the train towards central Berlin. I de-trained at the top of Freidrichstraße, and sauntered down this busy street towards Gendarmenmarkt.

I made a full circuit of Gendarmenmarkt, which is bookended by a pair of churches, before settling on a bistro for lunch.

After leisurely enjoying some sort of ham and cheese Tramezzino, I headed for the subway to go check out a prime Ingress spot in Prenzlauer Berg. On the way out of the bistro, I was interrupted by a police escort and a convoy of black Mercedes rolling up to the square. No idea who the VIP was; didn't stick around to find out. Also, it's unlikely I would have known who I was looking at, had I seen anyone.

The trip to P'Berg was uneventful, except I wasn't paying attention and took the tram one stop too far (I really wish we had trams). I decided to walk back instead of waiting for the tram in the opposite direction.

I Ingressed around the neighborhood for about an hour, but then it started snowing. At first it was light and harmless, bordering on "pretty", but that didn't last.

Soon, it was a wet, sloppy mess and I was trying to hold an umbrella and use an iPhone simultaneously. After about 20 minutes of that, I called it quits and headed back to the tram line. Also, I was running out of daylight.

I decided to complete the full transit circle that I started in the morning, and took the tram down to Mercedes Benz Arena, but somehow didn't bother to take a picture of it. I did get this gem, though.

The arena is the easternmost end of the U1 subway, and our hotel is at the westernmost stop, so it was a lovely, inattentive ride across/under downtown Berlin. It was after 6 by the time I set foot in the hotel room.

Jeff got back shortly after, and we caught up on the day's events (half of them, anyway) back home before heading out for some dinner. Jeff found a nearby venue that looked quite promising, and indeed the two different Schnitzel dishes we had were excellent.

I tasted that "Pommes sauce", but am still not quite sure what it is. Almost like a lemony mayo?

Tomorrow I might revisit the idea to, uh... visit...  the Victory Column, and/or stroll along the Spree River. Or something completely different. Taking all suggestions!